Another Try
by Absit Invidia
Summary: The reasons I'm alone I know by heart. But I don't want to spend forever in the dark. I swear next time I'll hang on for dear life, if love ever gives me another try.
1. Prologue

I've had the beginnings of this plot in my head for a long time. I'm not entirely sure where this is going, but I hope you enjoy what I have so far. Feedback would be great! :)  
>The characters belong to the incomparable Ms. Austen, and the story's title and summary are from Josh Turner's "Another Try".<br>-Absit Invidia

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

Beth had already heard the entire easy listening CD being played in the lobby of the theater and was on the second go round, humming along with a chorus, when Will finally walked in. She stood up, smoothing her new skirt, worried that he was so late, thinking that something must have happened to hold him up so long. "Will, over here," she motioned him to the small seating area.

He walked over, visibly agitated. "I'm sorry I'm late."

"What happened?" she asked, worry in her voice.

"I got caught up at work" was all he said, shrugging, as he turned toward the entrance to the theatre.

"It's too late to see the play, Will. They're in the second act. There are only three."

He turned back toward her, shoulders slumped. "Oh. I guess we'll just have to come back another night then."

"We can't come back another night. This is closing night, Will. The last performance, remember?" she struggled to keep her voice even. She was trying not to let her frustration get the best of her because she knew that he was under a lot of pressure at work, but she had wanted to see the play for a while.

He tiredly rubbed his hands over his face. "LizzyBeth, I'm sure Anne has still got the confirmation on the tickets. She can return them and get tickets to another play you want to see," he said, obviously trying to placate her, to keep from starting an argument in such a public place.

Her head shot up from where she had been looking at her feet, thinking about what a waste the pedicure had been. "What do you mean 'Anne has the confirmation on the tickets'? Why would she have it?"

He was leading them to the entrance, pulling his keys out of his pocket when he absently answered, "From when she made the reservations this morning."

She stood stock-still in the middle of the lobby, forcing him to stop with her. "Why would Anne make the reservations for our anniversary? And why only this morning?" she said in a deceptively calm voice.

Will wasn't looking at her, but at his keys, which he was uncharacteristically fidgeting with, when he said, "I… Because… I forgot to."

She backed away a couple steps, incredulous. He rushed to cover up his blunder, "I mean, I was busy in meetings all day, and I had just finished the last one and was taking a nap in my office to recharge a little, and she called me and told me that I was supposed to be here, and then I rushed, and—"

"So you didn't make any plans for us at all? You didn't even remember our anniversary?" Her voice was beginning to rise and tremble a bit. "And here I was, thinking something had gone horribly wrong at work, or that you'd been in a wreck or something to be this late and not call, and you were _napping in your office_?"

Will looked around anxiously, uncomfortable with the attention they were drawing from the people who'd drifted into the lobby for intermission. "Beth, please, lower your voice. You're making a scene," he said sternly, while reaching for her arm, hoping to get them out of there in case someone recognized them.

Something snapped inside of Beth. _I am done with his bullshit_. Once he got her through the doors, she stood her ground, refusing to be pulled any further. "No, Will. We are going to talk about this now."

He was hunched slightly in exhaustion, but still towered over her. "What do you want me to say, Beth?" he sighed, looking down at her.

"You aren't even going to apologize?" She scanned his face, seeing the dark marks beneath his eyes and the droop of his mouth.

"Okay. Fine. I'm sorry."

"For what, Will? Why are you sorry?"

He blew out a forceful breath, and then shoved a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry I forgot about tonight. Look, can we just go home now? God, it's been a long day, and I'm tired."

She felt an ache in her chest at how not-sorry he actually sounded. "That's not good enough, Will. If this were the first time something like this had happened, or even the eighth, maybe I'd let it go that easily. But not this time."

"What are you saying?" he asked, looking at the determined set of her shoulders.

"I'm saying that I'm tired of being treated like I don't matter to you anymore—"She stopped, and a horrorstruck expression crossed her face as she looked up at him in the dimness of the streetlights. "I do matter to you, don't I?"

"Of course you do," he scoffed, "don't be ridiculous. But my work has to be a priority right now. These are huge projects that we are working on, and some things are more important than…"

"Than what, Will? What were you going to say? Some things are more important than that girl you happen to share an address with and used to fuck occasionally?"

He looked deflated by her blunt words. "That's not what I was going to say."

She turned slowly and took a couple of steps away, then stopped and said over her shoulder, "No, Will. But we both know that's what you meant."

When she had already made it to the end of the block and hailed a cab, he finally had the presence of mind to say, "Come back, LizzyBeth."

Only the darkness heard him.


	2. Chapter One

Here's the first actual chapter to the story. It takes place a couple of years after the prologue. The characters in my story are rowers, as I am. I've tried to make things self-explanatory, but if you have any questions, feel free to send me a message, and I'll try to clarify things. I hope you like it!

-Absit Invidia

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

For the first time in a long time, Will Darcy gave serious thought to ignoring his 5:00 am alarm. Not because he had been having such a great night's sleep, rather, because he hadn't. He'd had the dream again, the one that played out their last night. Habit won out in the end and he pulled himself out of bed to throw on workout clothes.

Fifteen minutes later, he parked his car in the empty lot at the boathouse. He'd beaten Richard, then. Yawning, he set about getting out the oars while he waited on his boat mate.

Richard arrived minutes later and they began stretching. "So, Will. How was your weekend?" Rich asked as they stretched their quads. "Get any action?" he added with a wink.

"Plenty," Will sarcastically replied as they moved to stretching on the ground. "On Friday, I had a hot date with my spreadsheets. Saturday, it was the overseas conference calls, and on Sunday, a bottle of scotch kept me nice and warm. You?"

"My weekend wasn't quite so action-packed. But I did have another date with Jane," Richard smirked.

"Well, in honor of that, I'd say that you get to buy the breakfast this morning," Will drawled as they moved toward their boat.

"Okay, okay. You win this time."

"I win every time," Will chuckled. "Hands on."

They each took a position on either side of the boat. "Waist in two. One. Two." They hefted it off its boat jacks. "Shoulders in two. One. Two." They lifted the boat to rest on their shoulders as they carried it down the dock to the water.

"Heads in two," Will called out, "One. Two." They lifted the boat over their heads. "Over the water in two. One. Two." Then the men lowered the boat down and out over the water and placed it in. Richard held onto the boat while Will retrieved their oars.

When both men's oars were in place and Richard had taken his seat and tied into his shoes, Will took his place in the stroke seat and together they pushed away from the dock. The sky had barely begun to brighten in the east when the men paddled away from the dock and began their warm up.

"So tell me more about Jane," Will said cheerfully as he set a steady stroke rate. He could already feel his mood improving as his muscles woke up. Being out on the water never failed to ease his mind from what had burdened it the day before.

"Well, you know we met at a conference last month. She's 27, blonde, sweet, and gentle. She has a thing for 80s rock and I haven't managed to scare her off yet."

Will could hear the smile in Rich's voice. He was happy for Rich, who seemed to have found the woman of his dreams. And yet, he couldn't keep his thoughts from turning to _her_, the girl that plagued _his _dreams. He felt the familiar pang somewhere around his sternum and sighed.

Will suggested they bring up their stroke rate and begin their piece. He hoped that Rich didn't mind a hard row, because he had some memories he needed to outrun this morning.

An hour later, they wearily turned the _LizzyBeth _around and headed back to the dock.


End file.
